Soil Moisture Storage and Productivity of Chickpea as Influenced by in situ Moisture Conservation Practices in Model Watershed Area

A field experiment was conducted during rabi season of 2010–11 in farmer's field at model watershed, Neeralkatti village, Dharwad district of Karnataka to study the effect of in situ soil moisture conservation practices on soil moisture storage and productivity of chickpea. Broad bed and furrow (BBF) recorded significantly higher soil moisture content at 0–15, 15–30, 30–45 and 45–60 cm soil depth at 30, 60 and 90 DAS compared to rest of the treatments and it was on par with compartment bunding. Lowest soil moisture was observed in farmers’ practice. The crop raised on broad bed and furrows recorded significantly higher plant height, primary branches, secondary branches. Significantly higher dry matter accumulation was recorded in BBF at all the growth stages (1.38, 7.51 and 13.34 g plant⁻¹ at 30, 60 DAS and at harvest). The crop raised on broad bed and furrows recorded significantly higher test weight, grain yield (11.0 q ha⁻¹) and haulm yield (10.2 q ha⁻¹) over the farmer's practice.